SEO and search

SEO is the work of getting a search engine to show your site for your clients' queries. It has three parts: the site's technical condition, the content of the pages, and outside mentions. First changes show after two to three months, a stable result after six to twelve; nobody achieves it faster.

It is the list of queries people use to look for you, grouped by meaning. It is built from keyword tools, search suggestions, your own analytics reports and competitors' sites. The core rule: every group of queries gets its own page — otherwise your pages start competing with each other.

A page reaches the top when it answers the query more completely than its competitors, not when it holds more keywords. Structure is what works: a heading with the substance, the answer in the opening paragraphs, division into sections, prices and answers to common questions. Length is not the goal: a short page that closes the question outranks a long empty one.

Check indexing, mobile speed, duplicate pages and broken links first. Those four things can stop a site growing at all, however much content you write. A basic check takes a couple of hours and usually explains straight away why the promotion is stuck.

A link works when it sits on a live site in your field and people actually follow it. Buying hundreds of links on exchanges now does more harm than good: search engines have learned to tell them apart. What works are industry directories, partners, publications in local media, and mentions without a link, which also count.

Search engines assess four things: whether the author has first-hand experience, whether they know the subject, whether the industry recognises them, and whether the site itself can be trusted. In practice that means: sign your material with real people, publish your legal details and contacts, add update dates, and cite sources. The effect is strongest in medicine, finance and law.

Local search is decided by three things: a filled-in directory listing, reviews, and how close you are to the person. For a local business the maps listing usually brings more than the site itself, and it is set up in a day. On the site you need pages for queries with the city and district, plus one consistent address and phone number everywhere you are mentioned.

A store's main traffic goes to categories, not product cards: categories gather the high-volume queries and do not disappear along with a product. The three technical priorities are closing off duplicates from filters and sorting, speeding up the catalogue, and not losing pages for out-of-stock items. Product cards are optimised for exact queries with the model and part number.

The three usual causes: too little time has passed, the pages were built for the wrong queries, or the site technically will not let itself be indexed. Less often, competitors too strong for the methods chosen. Check in that order rather than starting by buying links.